Experts call Biblical artifact a fake

USA Today ^ | 06/18/03 | Associated Press

[bedolido]

JERUSALEM (AP)

[Norse]

He has trouble with the notion that Jesus might have really existed

[MissAmericanPie]

No agenda here, move on.

[stuartcr]

How is the authenticity important? How would anyone validate it's authenticity?

[TontoKowalski]

I don't think that the stone's authenticity is that important. Faith is belief with the absence of evidence. Dang, what is the Bible verse that addresses that?

Anyway it is interesting that the box has generated so much discussion...which I guess is a good thing.

[drjimmy]

How is the authenticity important? How would anyone validate it's authenticity?
Missing from the USA Today version of the Associated Press story is this rather important sentence that helps explain how it was determined to be a fraud: "The James inscription cut through the ancient limestone box's patina, a thin coating acquired with age, the experts said, proving the writing was not ancient."

As to whether its authenticity is important, I guess it depends on whether one thinks that the truth matters or not.

[stuartcr]

What truth are we talking about, and how would anyone know if it's true?

[Mr. Lucky]

I'm sure all the folks who relied upon this ossuary as definitive proof that Jesus had a biological brother, and that Mary, therefore wasn't really a virgin, will now be flooding your freepmailbox with apologies.

[FreedomSurge]

I will wait until Hershal Shanks - the man who brought us the dead sea schrolls - gives up hope.

The timing issue is bogus. As to the two hands, it is simply the carver switching from block letters to curesive. Not a deal killer.

[ProudGOP]

As to whether its authenticity is important, I guess it depends on whether one thinks that the truth matters or not.

Or whether the ossuary matters or not.

[Consort]

They called it a fake on another ongoing thread, as well. What a cooincidence.

[azhenfud]

Hebrews Ch. 11 V. 1

[dogbyte12]

I just saw a news report on this. What seems to be the killer here is the patina. Basically, there is a patina on the rest of the piece, but not on the questionable inscription. Through 2,000 years of exposure, there should be a patina on the inscription, but it is missing, leading experts to believe that is was very recently carved.

[BSunday]

I've been waiting to use this since I heard it in a sermon last Sunday evening:

"Our problem is not with evidence, it's with obedience".

[azhenfud]

Our faith in the Sovereign was just fine all those years without the thing. It really shouldn't make any difference now.

[Just mythoughts]

Could not read any further than "EXPERT" and forgeries, anybody can buy an "EXPERT" these days, wonder how much the "EXPERT" charges?

[drjimmy]

What truth are we talking about, and how would anyone know if it's true?
The guy who owns it claims it is "authentic," meaning the ossuary and the inscription on it dates from Jesus' time, so it could very well have held the bones of Jesus' brother, James. The scientific evidence shows that the inscription is probably a modern forgery intended to make people believe it was done in antiquity.

[BrooklynGOP]

He has trouble with the notion that Jesus might have really existed

He does? Where's this in the article?

[Norse]

It's obvious

[BrooklynGOP]

No agenda here, move on.

Interesting. So unless Israel's Antiquities Authority certifies everything - real or not - you are going to blame it on "agenda"???